Training Log Archive: OJ

Day 6, another chasing start. I started in 4th about 2 mins down on GG, but feeling pretty stuffed. Decided the best strategy was a steady but technically good race and managed that pretty well. Managed to gain time on GG and caught him soon after the spectator control. No working together today - we had a go slow for a few legs trying to get the other to take the lead, before catching 2nd placed Havard Lucasson. From then on the pace wound up all the way to the finish. We punched the last control just about together but GG (predictably) had me on the run in. Nice to have a tussle all week and good to end it in 2nd and 3rd (the best places available with Thierry around - he won with a 40 minute margin), but would have been even nicer to beat GG. I'll get you next time.

C • Good work:) 2

Day 5, suffered from bad guts/headache all evening and night, so didn't feel much like running. Kept a steady pace and felt OK once I got going, but made a heap of mistakes in the trickiest terrain yet. Even without the mistakes I was way off the pace today, but glad I made it round.

Spent the rest day kayaking up and down the river Daubie near Millau. Spent almost as much time in the water as in the kayak.

Day 4, mass start (at 7.15 am! It was barely light). We were expecting butterfly loops or some kind of gaffling, but descriptions were given out at the start and they were all the same - 120 men all running the same course. Thierry got an early lead and stayed at the front just about all the way, with people fanning out behind him like a comet with its trail. I felt terrible for the first 4km and fell about 30 secs down the train. Fortunately a little miss by Thierry got me near the front and from there on he was never out of my sight. (I even punched one control ahead of him when he missed!) The pace wound up at the end and I took a different line to the last control, which cost a couple of places. Rob ran well to come in 3rd.

Ultrasprint quarter final. A 1:1500 map of a detailed area of rock and vegetation detail, much of it in view of the spectators. I ran a pretty solid race and incurred no time penalties to win my heat.

Ultrasprint semis. Ran pretty well to the top of the hill but made a few mistakes on the way back down, still no time penalties. Finished 3rd and missed out on the final.

For the whole day.

Day 3, chasing start. GG caught me pretty quickly and we worked together from there on - a good strategy as this was the hardest terrain yet. Caught time on the guys in front (except Thierry, of course) and got a gap to the guys behind. A lot of fun weaving in and out of rocky towers.

Day 2, a much better run on a less tricky area. A few difficult patches of bushes and rocks and some longer legs, but managed to get round with only a handful of small mistakes. Most importantly regained my deficit on GG from the day before.